Identity Theft Russian Roulette: Healthcare.gov Refers Users to Uncertified Navigators and Assisters

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Obamacare includes a requirement that all marketplaces prepare “Navigators,” “In-Person Assisters,” or “Certified Application Counselors.” These organizations and individuals are supposed to be trained to help Americans – should they desire assistance with the process – apply for and purchase insurance plans through the Obamacare marketplaces.

However — and inexplicably, as the cause of this situation is not being made available to the public — people seeking assistance will be presented with search results from a database that includes individuals and organizations which are simply not certified to help.

Citizens of the 34 states that chose not to create their own exchange (and thus must use the federal Healthcare.gov website) can search for application assistance at LocalHelp.Healthcare.gov. On this page, users are prompted to enter their location. Users then will receive search results comprising the entities available to assist in the users’ respective areas.

See below for a screen shot of this service in action — I entered “Illinois”, and I then received 558 search results consisting of Illinois’ navigator/assister/counselor contact information:

Photo Credit: pjmedia.com

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Obama to Go On Post-Shutdown Fundraising Blitz for Democrats

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Photo Credit: Intel PhotosPresident Obama plans to be the star guest for at least eight fundraising events around the country over the next five weeks for House and Senate Democrats, sources say.

The aggressive cross-country trip comes after a government shutdown battered Republican approval ratings and raised Democratic hopes of keeping control of the Senate and winning back the House for Obama’s final two years in office.

Obama enjoyed having his party wield power during his first two years in office, and seeing Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) return to the House Speakership would dramatically increase his sway while limiting his days as a lame-duck president.

The fundraising push starts Friday in New York with events for House Democrats and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The president will then head to Boston for another House Democratic fundraiser on Oct. 30, before traveling early next month to Miami and Philadelphia to raise money at two events for Senate Democrats.

Obama will then head to Seattle and San Francisco to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the fundraising arm of House Democrats.

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Army Chief: Just 2 Brigades Combat-Ready

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Photo Credit: REUTERSArmy Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno revealed this week that just two Army brigades are combat-ready, with budget cuts hampering the military’s ability to train its own troops.

The startling comments were made Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army conference. Odierno and Army Secretary John McHugh both addressed the fallout from the budget cuts, as well as the recent partial government shutdown, and appealed to lawmakers to restore some stability to military funding.

“Functioning like this is just dysfunctional,” Odierno said.

He said that after the sequester kicked in, “we had to stop training basically” in the last six months of the year. He said the recently passed stopgap funding bill has further reduced the Army’s ability to train, and warned that the recurring budget battles in Washington could have serious consequences for America’s fighting force.

“So the worst-case scenario is you ask me deploy thousands of soldiers somewhere, and we have not properly trained them to go, because we simply don’t have the dollars and money,” he said.

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Report: NSA Spied on 124 Billion Phone Calls in One Month

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The National Security Agency recorded information about more than 124 billion phone calls during a 30-day period earlier this year, including around 3 billion calls from U.S. sources, according to a tally from top-secret documents released by multiple news outlets.

Documents revealing details about the NSA’s Boundless Informant program show that information regarding billions of phone calls and computer communications was collected by the agency from across the world.

Boundless Informant “allows users to select a country on a map and view the meta data volume and select details about the collections against that country,” according to the Guardian, which first reported on the top secret program earlier this year.

Multiple leaked screenshots of the Boundless Informant program show that information on around 124.8 billion phone calls were collected in just 30-days this year, according to documents released by the Guardian and other news sites.

The documents provide a window into the sheer volume of data being collected by the NSA as late as March of this year, according to the Guardian.

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US Gov’t Takes Bank Of America To Court And Wins, Jury Finds Countrywide Liable For Fraud

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Photo Credit: Forbes Thought those mortgage lawsuits against banks were winding down? Think again.

Today a jury found Bank of America liable for defrauding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when its Countrywide unit sold it bad mortgages.

The jury also found former Countrywide executive, Rebecca Mairone, liable on the one fraud charge facing her, Reuters reports.

The verdict is a win for the US government as this is one of the few cases stemming from the financial crisis that it’s taken to trial.

“In a rush to feed at the trough of easy mortgage money on the eve of the financial crisis, Bank of America purchased Countrywide, thinking it had gobbled up a cash cow. That profit, however, was built on fraud, as the jury unanimously found,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

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White House Now Denying Top Democrat’s Claim About ‘I Cannot Even Stand to Look at You’ Obama Moment

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Photo Credit: Getty ImagesBy Fred Lucas.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the charge from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that an unidentified Republican House leader told President Barack Obama, “I cannot even stand to look at you” during government shutdown negotiations is not accurate — but Durbin is standing by his story.

A reporter Wednesday referred to Durbin’s claim on Facebook that a member of Congress told the president to his face that he couldn’t stand to look at him.

Carney, clearly prepared for the question, gave a direct answer.

“I looked into this and spoke with someone who was in that meeting and it did not happen,” Carney said.

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Durbin: House leader told Obama ‘I cannot even stand to look at you’

By Justin Sink.

A top Senate Democrat said that a leading House Republican told President Obama that they could not ‘even stand to look at you’ during negotiations over the government shutdown.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a Facebook post that the alleged confrontation happened during a meeting between Republicans and the president.

“Many Republicans searching for something to say in defense of the disastrous shutdown strategy will say President Obama just doesn’t try hard enough to communicate with Republicans,” Durbin said. “But in a ‘negotiation’ meeting with the president, one GOP House Leader told the president: ‘I cannot even stand to look at you.'”

“What are the chances of an honest conversation with someone who has just said something so disrespectful?” the Illinois Democrat added.

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Nine Generals Fired, Two Military Leaders Suspended

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Photo Credit: Ben Swann Nine commanding Generals have been fired, and two other leaders are on suspension, in a historic military shake up…

“I think they’re using the opportunity of the shrinkage of the military to get rid of people that don’t agree with them or not tow the party line. Remember, as (former White House chief of staff) Rahm Emanuel said, never waste a crisis,” a senior retired general told TheBlaze on the condition of anonymity because he still provide services to the government and fears possible retribution…

Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, an outspoken critic of the Obama administration, said the White House fails to take action or investigate its own, but finds it easy to fire military commanders “who have given their lives for their country.”

“Obama will not purge a civilian or political appointee because they have bought into Obama’s ideology,” Vallely said. “The White House protects their own. That’s why they stalled on the investigation into fast and furious, Benghazi and Obamacare. He’s intentionally weakening and gutting our military, Pentagon and reducing us as a superpower, and anyone in the ranks who disagrees or speaks out is being purged.”

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States Get Sued for Enforcing ‘Gay Rights’

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Photo Credit: WNDLawsuits against Christians – sometimes even churches – have become common when they refuse to support non-Christian events, such as same-sex weddings. But now those defendants have started to fight back, filing lawsuits against state officials who are trying to coerce them to violate their faith.

WND reported in May when a Washington state florist sued Attorney General Bob Ferguson for allegedly trying to violate the state and federal constitutions’ religious freedom provisions.

And this week the Christian Institute in the United Kingdom profiled an Iowa couple suing their state’s Civil Rights Commission for the same reason.

“They have filed their own complaint saying that if the commission forces them to go against their beliefs and host gay weddings this would be a violation of the Iowa Civil Rights Act,” the Institute reports.

At issue is a claim against the Mennonite couple, Dick and Betty Odgaard, who own and operate the Gortz Haus Gallery, an old church building that is used for a variety of private events.

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Obama’s Ex-Bodyguard Losing Health Coverage

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Photo Credit: WNDPresident Obama repeatedly has promised that no one will lose his health insurance because of Obamacare, declaring, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.”

Media fact checkers were doubtful, and all the way back in 2009 PolitiFact gave it a “half true” rating. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, it could be time now to change that to “pants on fire” or even a retroactive “lie of the year.”

Among those with evidence Obama wasn’t telling the truth is Dan Bongino, a former member of the Secret Service’s elite Presidential Protective Division.

That’s because he is losing his coverage due to Obamacare.

“My plan was canceled, simple as that,” he told WND.

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Nancy Pelosi: ‘I’m Here On a Mission’

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Photo Credit: ReutersNancy Pelosi isn’t going anywhere.

While many thought the California Democrat would step down as House minority leader after this Congress, Pelosi confidants now believe she will remain atop House leadership through 2016 and maybe even longer.

Pelosi herself won’t tip her hand about her plans. But she doesn’t appear to be contemplating retirement.

“I’m not here on a shift. I’m here on a mission — and when my work is done, that’s when I will leave,” Pelosi said in a recent interview with POLITICO.

Pelosi declared the main reason she chose to stay put the past two years is to see Obamacare, which she had a strong hand in crafting and pushing through Congress, implemented successfully. Pelosi, like other Democrats, has publicly complained about the disastrous online rollout of the program, but she remains convinced it will turn out well in the long run.

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